This portion is the grammar and Old Tongue to English dictionary. For a reversed version of this (neatly organized! alphabetized!), check out this page.
There are currently at least two other Old Tongue dictionaries online. The Compleat Old Tongue is a good one, as is The Old Tongue Dictionary. So why am I making this? Well, I thought the others were somewhat lacking in areas and incorrect with some things. That's all right; I'm probably wrong here often enough. But I thought it important to provide a second opinion in case anyone wanted one.
If you see any omissions or errors, please alert me. Even if you just want to comment, you can reach me at faceloran@juno.com. I appreciate feedback, as it reinforces my ego.
This is a comprehensive dictionary, if not a complete one. It contains all
the Old Tongue phrases I could find. However, I could not distinguish Ogier from
Old Tongue, because I am not sure there is any attested Ogier word in all of
WoT. I have not included cultural terms from the Three-fold Land, because there
is no specific evidence to suggest that they are from the Old Tongue.
Aan'allien = one man, man who is an entire people
Aan is "the man" or "one man", and allien is "a people".
A'dam = leash
The root of the word is dam "leash", but people have been calling it "the leash" for so long—in fear, in hatred—that it has taken the article as part of itself.
Aes Sedai = Servant of all
Since "Sedai" is an honorific, it makes sense that it means "servants". "Aes" means "of all".
Aethan dor = Red shields
Going by normal word order, aethan is "shields" and dor is "red". A shorter way of saying this would be Calaethan, though that might be a different red.
Algai'd'siswai = spear fighters
Siswai is "spear" so algai is "fighters", and -d- connects the two (one of those grammatical necessities that carry little meaning and are usually deformed rapidly).
Al caldazar = The Red Eagle
Cal means "red" and aldazar means
"eagle". (Note far aldazar din "Brothers to the Eagle". **Calaldazar is ugly and longwinded, haplologizing to caldazar. Alternately, al- is the definite article, and dazar is the word for "eagle".)
Al ellisande = The Rose of the Sun
"Ellisande" means "rose of the sun", but I am unsure of the literal translation.
Al'cair dal = The golden bowl
"Cair" means "golden" and "dal" means "bowl". This seems to make al- a definite affix. Abnormal word order here; it should be Al'dal'cair.
Al'cair'rahienallen = Hill of the Golden Dawn
The-golden-dawn-hill; rahien is "dawn" and allen is "hill".
Atha'an miere = The sea folk
See also Do Miere Avron. Miere means "sea" or "waves", and atha'an refers to a people group, so these are the people of the waves.
Baijan'm'hael = attack leader
Baijan = attack
Bajad drovja = ???
Caballien misain ye = I am a free man
Caba + allien for "free man"; naturally, since Mat has memories of being a soldier and commanding, he would equate freedom to horses (caba). Misain ye means "am I".
Carai an caldazar = For the honor of the Red Eagle
Caldazar means "the red eagle", making carai "honor" and an "of the". There is no evidence of the preposition "for", which is likely understood from context.
Carai an ellisande = For the honor of the Rose of the Sun
That order, though "for" is understood. Ellisande is difficult to break down. No part of it seems to be related to rahien "dawn".
Cor darei = Night spears
Darei is the plural of "spear" (straight from the horse's mouth) and cor is night. Genitive is understood, unless "cor" is an adjective.
Cyndane = Last chance
Possibly cyn "chance" + dane "last"; perhaps the morpheme boundary splits it to cynd + ane instead. It seems to be one word, though, since it isn't **cyn'dane.
Da'es daemar = The Game of Houses, the Great Game
Da'es looks like "one of all" ("one who is all"?) or "one who is all".
Da'shain aiel = dedicated to peace
Aiel is "dedicated", da'- is person, and shain must be peace.
Da'tsang = despised one
Da- "one who is, person", tsang "despised".
Dai shan = Battle lord
Dai seems to be related to gai, both referring to battle. Shan would be "lord".
Der- = master
This seems to indicate a level of proficiency rather than ownership or any such thing. Found in compounds der'morat'- master handler and der'sul'- master holder.
Deyeneiye, dyu ninte concion ca'lyet ye = Majesty, by your summons do I come
Literally, "Majesty, by your summons come I". Ca'- seems to be an aspect affix.
Do miere a'vron = The watchers over the waves
Do "over" miere "waves, sea" a'vron "watchers".
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain = It's time to roll the dice
Looking at
another statement about luck, "Sene sovya caba'donde ain dovienya", dovie is "dice" and andi is "to roll" or "for rolling". Tovya is "time" and sagain is "it is". Se is likely "for" (not the only word; look at Spanish "por" and "para"). It's a postposition, which is a never-before-seen thing in the Old Tongue, unless perhaps in "Kiserai ti Wansho". The opposing theory has dovie'andi as "dice", tovya as "to roll", se as a reflexive pronoun, and sagain as "it is time". That last requires subject compounding with verbs, and we have no evidence of that elsewhere. Why "sagain" rather than simply "ain"? I think that "ain" is equivalent to the aorist tense in Tolkien's Quenya: it holds true for all time. Thus "sagain" would be a point aspect: it applies to one specific point in time.
Duadhe mahdi'in = Water seekers
Mahdi, we learned from Elyas, means "seeker", so duadhe is "water".
Far aldazar din = Brothers of the eagle
This means "toward eagle brothers"; al- might be the definite article, but it would be al'dazar then. I conclude that aldazar means "eagle". Also, the Maidens of the Spear are not Far al'Dareis Mai, but Far Dareis Mai, so proper names omit the article.
Far dareis mai = Maidens of the spear
This means "toward the spear maidens", with mai having no special plural form.
Hama n'dore = Mountain dancers
Following normal word order, hama means "mountain" and n'dore is an irregular plural for "dancer".
Inde muaghde Aes Sedai misain ye = I am no Aes Sedai meat
No meat [for/of] Aes Sedai am I. -de seems to be a negation, and because it is not *misainde, I conclude that Mat was being emphatic about this. (Note Jordan's translation: "I am no Aes Sedai meat" rather than "I am not Aes Sedai meat". It is a bit more emphatic in English.)
Jenn Aiel = Truly dedicated
Jenn is "the only truly" and aiel is "dedicated one(s)".
Ji'e'toh = honor and duty
It is clear that ji is honor and toh is obligation (duty), so -e- is just there to connect them.
Kiserai ti Wansho = Glory to the Builders
It would seem to be in that word order, but it should be *Ti Kiserai wansho.
Kodome calichniye ga ni Aes Sedai hei = Here is always a welcome for
Aes Sedai
"Here is welcome for you Aes Sedai always", I think. The vocative particle |ni| is related to nint- "your" and would likely be used only in formal speech.
Los caba'drin = Forward horsemen/cavalry
Los is "forward" and caba is "horse". -drin may be "soldier".
Los Valdar Cuebiyari = Forward Heart Guard
Forward Guard [of] [the Nation's] Heart. Los from "los caba'drin" and Cuebiyari from Jordan himself.
Machin Shin = The Black Wind
Following normal word order, machin is "wind" and shin is "black".
Manetherendrelle = waters of the mountain home
Manetheren means "the mountain home", so drelle is "waters". It is quite distinct from miere "waves, water, sea".
Mashiara = lost love
Beloved of heart and soul lost forever beyond reclaiming, to be specific. Two morphemes, but I have no idea how it's compounded. Perhaps ma'shiara "the one and only love"?
M'hael = leader
Mia ayende, Aes Sedai = My freedom, Aes Sedai
That word order.
Mia dovienya nesodhin soende = ???
Mia dovienya = my luck. As for the rest of the sentence, the verb is negative (the -de ending), but I cannot discern more without a translation.
Morat = handler
This word is found exclusively with another word to form a genitive phrase. Morat'caba would mean farrier, for instance, and attested compounds are morat'raken, morat'grolm, etc.
Mordero daghain pas duente cuebiyari = Death fear none holds my heart.
That word order. "My" is implied.
Muad'drin tia dar allende caba'drin rhadiem = Footmen prepare to pass calvary forward
Tia dar allende caba'drin = toward passing forward [past] horse soldiers (or so I think, and Chris X sort of agrees). Rhadiem is "prepare" (a rare command form), and muad'drin is "foot soldiers".
Nar'baha = fool box
Nar probably means "box" and baha is "fool", according to the normal genitive rules.
Ninte calichniye no domashita = Your welcome warms me
Your welcome me warms (for a transliteration).
Nosane iro gavane domorakoshi, Dinyan'd'ma'purvene? = Speak we what language, Sounder of the Horn?
The phrase is transliterated, and I think Dinyan'd'ma'purvene is, too (that is, dinyan = sounder and purvene = horn).
Rahien sorei = Dawn runners
Rahien is "dawn", so sorei is "runners" (plural of *soreis).
Sa souvraya niende misain ye = I am lost in my own mind
In mind-my lost am I.
Seia doon = Black eyes
Eyes black. Doon and shin are different words for "black", but there is no indication that "Machin Shin" means "Black Wind" when directly translated.
Seiera = blue-eye
It looks to be a literal translation, so era = blue.
Sei'mosiev = lowered eyes
Mosiev = lowered.
Sei'taer = level eyes
Taer = level.
Sene sovya caba'donde ain dovienya = Luck is a horse to ride like any other
Caba is "horse". Ain dovienya = is luck. Sene sovya, then, would be like [any] other, and -donde would be "for riding". Perhaps -drin is "for fighting".
Sha'mad conde = Thunder walkers
It would seem to be that order.
Shadar logoth = Shadow's waiting
Shadar is related to shaidar, so it means "shadow". Logoth is "waiting", a gerund (that is, it's acting as a noun though it is a verb).
Shadar nor = Slicer of the Shadow
Nor = slicer
Shae'en m'taal = Stone dogs
Normal word order would have it Dogs stone, which is supported by the plural marker on the first word.
Shaidar haran = Hand of the dark
Shaidar is "dark", closely related to shadar. Haran is "hand of", a contraction of har and an that may refer to a chief lieutenant or trusted underling. Otherwise, it is odd word order for a literal translation, which should be *haran shaidar.
Shen an calhar = The band of the red hand
Shen likely refers not to a band as of raiders, but a closely knit warrior group. It conveys more respect than what it is translated as. Calhar is a contraction of cal and har.
Sovin nai = Knife hands
Sovin is probably "hands", making nai mean "knife". Oddly, this doesn't use har "hand". It would be rather confusing, though, to have haran to mean "right-hand man" (if it does) and "hands". The plural of har is likely harin.
Sul- = holder
Attested forms: sul'dam and der'sul'dam (holder of the leash and master holder of the leash).
Suravye ninto manshima taishite = Peace favor your sword
Peace your sword favor. Taishite implies that the speaker is asking peace to "be true to" the other's sword.
Tai'daishar = true battle blood, true glory
Tai'shar = true blood [of]
Tain shari = True bloods
That word order. Oddly, this implies that there is adjective agreement between adjectives and nouns.
Tar Valon = tower of guarding
Tar is "tower" and valon is related to valdar "guard", though it is probably a gerund form.
Tarmon gaidon = The last battle
Gaidon is a more important form of gai "battle", and tarmon probably does not mean "last". They must have had a different name for it before the Trolloc Wars came and reinforced the New Tongue.
Tel'aran'rhiod = the Unseen World
Also glossed as the World of Dreams, which means that there's ambiguity between dreams and a state of not being seen. Using the normal compounding system, it's probably World'absence'vision (or something similar), with aran'rhiod being a poetic way of saying "dream". Note that "aran" is also glossed as "left", which means that there is another, ridiculous translation of it: the world of left vision, which is what Uno sees. But there is precedent for the ambiguity in the Latin roots "dexter" and "sinistra", which mean right and left respectively. Dexterous now means agile or clever; sinister means untoward. It's probably due to the Greek obsession with portents. Perhaps the Seanchan attitudes are remnants of a similar trend, which caused this ambiguity.
Tia avende alantin = Brother to the trees
A literal translation would be "toward trees brother" (note that Selene calls Loial "alantin"). Din is a shortened form of alantin, it would seem, and the fact that the word far is not used is either a species-based difference or (more likely) a different emphasis. (Racism was not a problem; black and white lived in harmony and ganged up on green.)
Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin = The grave is no bar to my call
To my call Death isn't bar. Vadin might be related to valdar "guard", meaning almost that Death cannot guard against the call.
Tsag = expletive
Unsure of literal translation; perhaps related to tsang "despised".
Tsorovan'm'hael = storm leader
Tsorovan = storm
Valdar cuebiyari = Heart guard
Valdar = "guard", cuebiyari = "heart"
Class plurals are few. I think they occur with similar frequency to the special class plurals in English.
Noun classes can only be seen in their plural form, to my knowledge. Nouns may inflect a la Latin.
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